INDIA in F1

Tag: Formula 1

  • Front row is a great result for the team; It is also nice to see the fans going crazy: Vettel

    Shanghai, 14 April 2018: Sebastian Vettel led a Ferrari, as Kimi Raikkonen set the second fastest lap for P2 to lock the front row while the Silver Arrows Valtteri Bottas outpaced teammate and reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton to fourth. As usual, the top three attended the mandatory FIA Saturday Press Conference after the track-side interviews which were conducted by Davide Valsecchi.

    Q: Sebastian, what a lap, it was just amazing. And then the last sector, how good it was, it was something unbelievable.

    Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, I was happy with the whole lap, not just the last sector. The car was really amazing. It just kept getting better, so really happy. I knew that on the first lap I had some mistakes. I lost the rear at Turn 3 at the exit of the low-speed, and then 6 again, so I was a bit beaten up, but then I knew that if I got a tidy lap and I have a little bit of margin then I could push.

    Q: Do you ever check the reaction of the fans? They love it!

    SV: Yeah, really good. Also in the hairpin, in Turn 14, just under braking, outside, I see the people going crazy. It’s really nice.

    Q: Kimi, you were on pole just until the last sector of Sebastian Vettel. You have to be proud of your quali? I know it must be disappointing but your drive was excellent today.

    Kimi Raikkonen: It was ok, but not good enough. It’s not exactly what I wanted, so, yeah, we go tomorrow and see what we can do.

    Q: About tomorrow: what do you think you can do?

    KR: Well, we try to improve. Obviously, it’s going to be a long race. We need to stay out of issues and go from there and see what it brings.

    Q: Valtteri, how was your quali? It seemed that you were struggling a bit but then just at the end you could improve. What do you think, how was your Mercedes today?

    Valtteri Bottas: I think for us it was quite straightforward honestly, as a qualifying, run by run understanding the tyres, getting them to work better. But we never could achieve similar grip levels to Ferrari today.

    Q: Let me check it out, tomorrow, first row, Turn 1, how is it going to be?

    SV: I don’t know. We find out tomorrow. Looks like on Kimi’s side there’s more rubber, so I need a good start!

    Transcript of the Press Conference:

    Sebastian, just talk us through that session and how you built up to that incredible time of 1:31.095?

    SV: Yeah, it was indeed a crazy session – the car was unbelievable and it just got better. I think right from the first lap in the first of part of qualifying, in Q1, I was really happy and in the end, we didn’t have to do much on the car. I didn’t have to fight so much finding the last fine tunings. I was very happy with the settings I had from the beginning. Usually, you change quite a lot, you change your mind… it was tricky because also the wind was changing, sometimes more, sometimes less, and a bit gusty as well. Trying to look around the lap to see where the flags are, trying to get a reference. The last lap in Q3 I knew I could step it up. I knew I had a bit more in me, because on the first run I had two moments, out of Turn 3, accelerating I was probably a bit keen. The same out of Turn 6, I lost the rear twice, so I lost a bit of momentum in those places. So I knew that I had a little bit more and obviously in the last lap I got it all together and very happy that when I crossed the line I was looking up to see the screen and I saw something green, which is usually good, and a little bit of purple. Really pleased; it was a tight session but I think again a great result for the team.

    Your car seems to be getting stronger by the race. Are you surprised by the gap to Mercedes this weekend?

    SV: Yes, we are. I think the first three races have been a bit different now. The tracks are quite different to each other and to have that much of a gap is a bit of a surprise. But I think it’s also a track where you just need to get in and find that sweet spot and if you are a little bit out then easily you drop a little bit of time, so I wouldn’t be surprised tomorrow if that gap disappears and it will be a very tight race. Obviously, I wouldn’t mind if it stays there but I think it will be a tight race amongst the top three teams, and a long, tough race, but obviously, it’s good to start from the front.

    Q: Kimi, coming on to you, you’ve been hooked up all weekend. Very, very close to your team-mate. Just talk us through the session from your point of view.

    KR: I think it was pretty straightforward. Not much really happened. Obviously, after the morning it was a bit unknown where I was going to be with the wind and everything. I was pretty OK. Not much to say that was wrong. For sure there are things that we can improve always – but that’s a never-ending story. It was close. How close I don’t even know but close enough to make a difference, a few corners here and there. So, yeah, not ideal but tomorrow is another day. We’ll see what happens.

    Q: You say tomorrow’s the day. You’re going to be starting the race on the soft tyre, as are the top four drivers. Was that a straightforward decision – or were you tempted to start on the ultrasoft?

    KR: It was quite an easy decision, at least in the minds. If you cannot be fast enough… that we only find out in qualifying always but I think it was a quite straightforward decision. We’ll see how it plays out tomorrow. It’s a bit unknown tomorrow.

    Q: Valtteri, just talking about that gap to Ferrari. Sebastian has already told us that he’s surprised at the size of the gap. Are you?

    VB: Yeah, we are. We thought coming into today that we would be fighting for the pole position but it was definitely out of reach today, there was nothing in the lap that we could have gained that much. I think there’s a little bit in terms of getting the tyres absolutely perfect for the lap – but it’s not half a second. You could feel it if it would be that big. So, I think they have a really strong car. We can see it, especially in long corners, Turn One-Two, they make some good gains to us and obviously not without any speed difference on the straights, they can keep the gains they make in the corners – so we definitely have work to do but yeah, tomorrow is a different day. Again, a long race ahead and like we saw last weekend it probably will be close. Hopefully we can make it up tomorrow what we lost today.

    Q: Can we elaborate a bit more about tomorrow. Do you think you’re going to have a more competitive race car than you had today?

    VB: hmmm… it’s difficult to say. We expected to go into today, that we would be fighting for the pole. From our numbers, it’s going to be very close between us and Ferrari – but as they were quicker today, we don’t know. But we will for sure try with everything we can. Obviously, we start on similar tyres so there’s not going to be massive differences with the strategies but yeah, we need to try and take the opportunities.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: Question for Kimi. Kimi, the first two sectors of your final lap were the fastest in the session so far, what happened in the final sector?

    KR: Nothing really. I lost some time but… I don’t know why. It wasn’t like I did some big mistake but yeah, need to see, I don’t know right now.

    Q: Question for the two Ferrari drivers. It’s always a balance between race pace and qualifying pace. Now, as you’ve seen the gap to the Mercedes, do you feel you’ve sacrificed race pace a bit too much for qualifying pace?

    SV: No. No, I think we try to look at both, obviously, and tomorrow the forecast is quite different so I think we kept that in mind. Obviously we see how it works tomorrow but the answer is still no.

    Kimi, anything to add?

    KR: I honestly don’t know how you could sacrifice something today to be better tomorrow. We have nothing that you could change like that. I never… as long as I remember, there has never been a case like that. You have somehow different setups for two days. It’s what you have. If it’s fast in qualifying it’s fast in the race, if it works.

    Q: Kimi, very good qualifying lap but still not good enough so what details do you think can be improved if you want to overtake your teammate, if it’s possible, in tomorrow’s race?

    KR: Well, obviously first of all we need to make sure that we run a troublefree race. Obviously that’s the first point and then we have to see how it pans out, obviously, so it’s a long race. We know what we’re going to do between ourselves so there’s nothing… I think the start will be a big part of it and who knows? We will see how it pans out and what it brings but we need to make the best out of it.

    Q: Valtteri, you mentioned that you were struggling to find the grip level that you had yesterday. Was it because of the low temperature, does that mean that your car is less competitive under low temperature conditions?

    VB: Well, I think the grip levels came up, for sure, from yesterday so in a way it was better but I think I said, I just struggled to find as much grip as Kimi and Seb. I said maybe some part of it can be from the tyres but I think some of it must come from the car. I don’t know if yesterday… it’s (tomorrow) going to be quite different to today, definitely warmer, a few degrees warmer with the air and definitely on the track; with the sun it’s a question mark. But we don’t think we are less competitive on a cold track. I thought we struggled a bit in Bahrain with the heat! For sure, we always need to understand everything better but for sure we need to make the car better as well.

    Q: Seb, you had some problems yesterday; I don’t think the balance was alright and on the long run the lap times dropped a bit. Why did it go so much better today? Did you change something dramatic in the car or what happened?

    SV: We made some small changes but I think it was already pretty OK yesterday afternoon. I think in the long run I was catching traffic and (on) the other one it started to rain so I think for everyone it was a bit compromised, the amount of laps that you got. Yeah, I think overall I was happier today. Obviously it helps a little bit to focus on one lap as well, if you get the P3 session right you get the better feeling for the car so between practice and qualifying we didn’t do hardly anything. I think the overnight changes that we did, they were working and they made the car a little bit better. I was a little bit happier with the front end overall. I hope we can carry that momentum and feeling, obviously, into the race tomorrow.

    Q: Valtteri, are we seeing a recurrence of Mercedes’s struggles on the softest compound Pirellis from last year? And in those scenarios why do you think you are able to get more out of the car than Lewis?

    VB: I think we saw in the races before that in general we’ve been a bit better with the harder compounds. That is something that we’re still working on, to get more out of the softer compounds and I think Ferrari is doing something better on that so yes, for that. I think the gap between me and Lewis was really small, it’s been quite small all weekend so it’s about fine details. I haven’t seen the lap so it’s difficult to say, really, why I was ahead but yeah, it’s been close between us all season so far so that’s how it is.

     

  • Fernley hopes Force India will get back on track soon under Andrew Green: Friday FIA Press Meet

    Shanghai, 13 April 2018: Saying that the performance of the Indian outfit, the Sahara Force India Formula One team in the first two races is misleading, Team Deputy Chief Robert Bob' Fernley said: `I think hopefully we’re getting back on track again and the team under Andrew Green will do a great job of bringing the car forward.

    The other team representatives who attended the usual Friday FIA press conference for Team Reps are Maurizio Arrivabene of Ferrari and Franz Tost of  Toro Rosso.

    Transcript of the Press Conference: 

    Franz, can we start by looking back at the Bahrain Grand Prix. How satisfying was Pierre’s fourth place and can you give us some idea of the emotion within the team and at Honda after the race?

    Franz TOST: Well, it was a very emotional race result of course, because the fourth place we didn’t expect. We expected to show quite a good performance and realistically I expected a place between eight and ten. At the end it was the fourth place. It was a big positive surprise and I’m very happy, especially for Honda after the difficulties they had in the past, and also for Toro Rosso of course, and for Pierre. Pierre drove a fantastic race, without any mistakes. He deserved this fourth position and I hope that we can continue in a similar way. Not always in the fourth position of course, because we must not forget that three cars in front of us did not finish. They were faster, like Kimi Räikkönen, then Verstappen and also Ricciardo. But nevertheless, it was a good performance.

    One of your most satisfying results in Formula 1? You, personally?

    FT: Of course one of the most satisfying results, especially thinking about Honda, because we last year, in December, we had many meetings in Tokyo and I promised the president that we would have a successful season and a successful future, and this was the first step. Therefore, I was quite satisfied to have this good result.

    You’ve already said that Pierre drove a fantastic race, but Brendon had a more difficult weekend. What can we expect from him this weekend and going forward as well?

    FT: Brendon was also quite good in the qualifying. He missed Q3 just by one-tenth. The race went a little bit in another direction because he had a collision with Pérez and he got the 10-second penalty and after this penalty, he was not anymore in a position to score points, although I think if the race had gone for another three to five laps maybe he could have finished in 10th position. He drove a good race. Brendon is doing a good job because you must not forget that most of the tracks, he doesn’t know. Also here, he is the first time with a Formula 1 car, he was here in LMP1. It’s not so easy to get everything together with these really strong midfield competitors and I am quite convinced that Brendon is on a good way and he will quite soon be close to Gasly.

    Thank you. Bob, turning to you, a point for Esteban in Bahrain demonstrated progress for Force India, but it hasn’t been the easiest of starts. How do you assess the opening couple of races, and the winter as well? 

    Robert `Bob’ FERNLEY: Well, I think actually it’s probably misleading. As a team, we have actually improved race-on-race, both for Australia and for Bahrain, by quite a significant amount. In terms of the opposition, they have improved even more, and the reliability is there. Last year we probably flattered a little bit to deceive getting the points early in the season, while we were very strong towards the end of the season. And I think it’s probably the same now. We had a good baseline programme for Bahrain in FP1 and FP2, which paid off, and you could see the difference in qualifying. We didn’t have a particularly good race: Checo had his incident on lap one, which basically took him out, and Esteban had a bad restart, and we got betwixt and between a strategy that really didn’t pay off for us. I think hopefully we’re getting back on track again and the team under Andrew Green will do a great job of bringing the car forward.

    You made a reference there to the midfield closing up. Can you give some feeling of how difficult the task ahead is? Not only for Force India but for everyone in that midfield? What’s the secret for your guys to finish fourth this year?

    RF: I think it’s, well, like all times it’s down to reliability and being able to maintain the pace all the time. If you look at Bahrain, and looking at two or three teams, if you look at the Haas programme, one was in Q3, one dropped out in Q1. If you look at the McLarens, they just got the set-up slightly wrong and didn’t have the pace to get to Q3. It’s literally a tenth or two and that’s the difference in making Q3 and not.

    Can you remember a time when the midfield was as tight as this?

    RF: Not in recent years, no. I think it’s tremendous. The battle for that fourth place in the championship is going to be extremely interesting through the year.

    Thank you. Maurizio, two races, two victories for the team, it’s been a tremendous start. But first, and most importantly, how is Francesco Cigarini, the mechanic who was injured in Bahrain last weekend?

    Maurizio ARRIVABENE: Francesco is fine. He went back to Italy yesterday, so it’s all under control.

    And how is he? Is he in good spirits? Have you had the chance to catch up with him?

    MA: Of course, as team principal, I was talking with him every day. He’s at home, it’s all OK.

    Fantastic news. As I say, two victories so far and Sebastian is sitting pretty at the top of the championship. He seemed happier with his car in Bahrain last weekend that he was in Melbourne. Can we expect further progress on that front here in China as well?

    MA: We are at the early stage of the season. The performance of the car is changing and it is really related to the track. So track versus other track, they are changing the performance. They have different characteristics. So I think at this early stage we are happy with the results that we have. But in the meantime, we know that the season will be long. Here, for example, in China, we will see Mercedes and Red Bull quite strong, but we are not here to surrender.

    Maurizio, can we have a quick word from you about the performance of Kimi Räikkönen this year? He seems to have hit the ground running, he’s performing well.

    MA: Yeah, I’m quite happy about the performance of Kimi. He is in good physical form, which for him is very, very important, because, if you remember, a couple of years ago he has a problem with his back but now he is recovering well, he’s really fit, and focused on his job.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: Maurizio, can you explain why Kimi was given the green light to leave in the pit stop in Bahrain and what has changed in the procedure for this weekend?

    MA: Just to make it clear, once, forever. First of all, the team was hurt. We have a person who was injured, so it was in our interest to review the overall procedure. We done our review, together with the FIA have to say, as they are caring about safety, as we are caring about safety. We went through all the procedure. We have a procedure to ensure that the pit stops during the race are done in the safest mode. In this case, we have three-factor – one involves human control, the other involves mechanical, the other involves an electronic device. What’s happening here is we have a mishandling of the rear left. It was not perfectly read by the electronic device that gives the green light. We went through all the procedure together with the FIA, making sure that this thing doesn’t happen again, and it’s in our interest, because we care about our people, before anything else.

    Q: This is to Franz. We talked just now about your fourth place last time out in Bahrain and we know that the McLaren-Honda partnership wasn’t that successful over the last three years or so. Do you think it’s a case that Honda is a better fit for a team like Toro Rosso than it was with a team like McLaren, for example?

    FT: I don’t know the circumstances which happened at McLaren and I do not want to comment on this because this is past tense and I was not involved – therefore I cannot come up with any conclusions. The fact is Toro Rosso has a fantastic relationship with Honda. We work very closely together, we worked quite hard during the winter months to sort out all the problems which maybe occurred in the past and Honda worked very hard to come up with a reliable and competitive engine. The last two races they proved that this is the case and I am really optimistic for the future.

    Q: To all three of you but particularly to Maurizio. Your comments please about the Liberty presentation last Friday and whether Maurizio, Ferrari is satisfied with what was proposed in terms of either bonus structure, financial structure etcetera. And the impact on your team of the necessary reduction in headcount.

    MA: First of all Dieter, I was not commenting on the meeting that we have. We were listening to the presentation and any kind of decision related to our further strategy or decision, they are related to our CEO. That is the one that has the responsibility to take this kind of decision.

    Bob, anything further to add?

    RF: Not really. I think we have to remember this is work in progress. It’s not something that really is for discussion at this point. It’s something that’s presented to us. It will go another few rounds yet before something becomes more concrete. I think it’s too presumptuous to start thinking that we’ve got the process in place yet. I think it’s too early.

    Franz, anything from you on that?

    FT: I support all the points which Liberty Media presented and I hope that they will realise it.

    Q: A question for Maurizio about the matter of the meeting. It’s difficult to comment but I would just like to know if Ferrari refuse totally the budget cap or if there is a door open to discuss something like this – maybe with different figures. And, about the new distribution of money, if it’s something that you don’t want to discuss at all with Liberty or there is some chance to speak about it.

    MA: I have to point out that it’s not difficult to make a comment. It’s simply not my job. It’s the responsibility of my chairman.

    Q: Forgive me, I came in late. Can you explain again the condition of your mechanic and if you’ve been to see him, been in contact with him.

    MA: The first comment is that he’s back in Italy, he’s at home and he’s OK.

    Are you in contact with him?

    MA: Of course. As the team principal, I’m in contact with him. His name is Francesco but he’s not St Francesco. Blessing the hurt who doesn’t need a hero. This is Bertolt Brecht, it’s not Maurizio.

    Q: Question for Maurizio. Although it’s not your job to discuss the proposals, it would be your role to implement any changes to Ferrari as a result of the proposals. Toto Wolff has said a budget cap of $150million is not achievable. Could such a thing be achievable for Ferrari?

    MA: I mean we are reading the overall document. We are discussing and, I mean, we will see in the future if it’s achievable or not.

    Q: Question for Franz. There is always a technical aspect of a relationship but there is also a human one. What did you try to do to build a respectful relationship with Honda with the kind of harmony that was maybe a little bit missing in the past years with another team?

    FT: The Toro Rosso team from its nature is a very friendly team with Italian mentality. I must say that we never had any frictions from the very beginning onwards we had a good cooperation. In addition to this, we organised some workshops for our engineers and employees who are working together with the Honda people, to understand the culture, to understand the way of thinking, because the cultures between Europe and Japan are different. I must say that they found a really good way of working together without any problems and I am also convinced that this will continue in this way. From the technical side, as I mentioned before, we had a couple of technical meetings in December where we discussed different topics and where both sides started immediately to work on this and we are still quite close, cooperating together because we want to develop the car as well as the power unit also during the season. From this point of view I must say Toro Rosso is in the best situation we have ever been – because we are now much more involved in the complete design process, regarding the car and how to fit in the power unit, how to design the cooling system, the exhaust system, where to put the electric boxes and so on. I think, especially for next year, this will be a big advantage from the complete car design point of view.

    Franz, are there Honda engineers based in Faenza?

    FT: No, the Honda engineers are based… some of them are based in Milton Keynes because Honda has there as well an R&D department, but most of them are in Sakura and our engineers are flying to Sakura, to Japan when there is a special programme on the dyno or wherever because we are now much more involved also in the dyno runnings. We started already in November/December with the gearbox, and engine and gearbox tests and gearshifts and all this kind of stuff and we also are currently running a programme in Sakura.

    Q: Bob, you said earlier on that this is a work in progress, this Liberty presentation. To all three of you, what is the deadline needed before it’s really firmed up and proposals are made and accepted and regulations because we only have two and a half years left before the current agreements expire?

    BF: I am hoping that most of it will be done this year, perhaps the financials will take a bit longer but I would have thought that the engine regulations would have to be out reasonably quickly. It’s more to do with the engine manufacturers than it is us. We’re a customer team so we’re not really involved in that. But I’m sure those would have to be done this year to give everybody the right opportunity and I would have thought that early next year – this time – we should be looking at chassis regs and anything else that’s surrounding that; cost controls or whatever, should be in place as well.

    MA: They give us a deadline for the end of May, I think. I hope that this deadline is going to be respected. It’s a bit early somehow but it’s far if you’re looking at the situation from another point of view, a technical point of view. Concerning the engine, we, Mercedes, Renault and Honda sent a letter a month ago explaining in detail our position. Now, it’s quite clear.

    FT: I think the power unit regulation has to be finalised soon, May, June, otherwise I don’t think it’s possible for new manufacturers to come into Formula One because time is running away, ’21 is tomorrow and I think that Liberty Media is aware of this and the rest we will see.

    Q: I’ll try my luck with a question to Maurizio: Maurizio how would Ferrari react if you were to lose your historic right to veto any regulation change under Liberty Media’s new governance plans?

    MA: We’ll let you know as soon as we go deeper into the conversations. You can see a smile on our face or not.

    BF: Veto the question.

    Q: Maurizio, Bob has said that he would like to see the engine regulations firmed up this year then the chassis in a year’s time and the money thereafter. From a Ferrari perspective, can one actually split it, given that to Ferrari all three are very very important elements which would be basically decide your way forward?

    MA: All the elements are important because they are somehow linked together so soon we will find an agreement if any, related to the various topics that are into the proposals and then we can go.

    BF: Just to clarify Dieter, it would be nice to have everything done in one go but I’m giving you the timelines that might be realistic rather than (those that) are absolutely necessary.

    Q: Maurizio, about the sporting situation now, I would like to ask you what makes you more proud about this season?

    MA: As I said at the beginning, we have only had two races now. The season is very very long so as I said before, the car behaviour changes from one track to another. I can see here, for example, Mercedes and Red Bull are quite strong but we are not here, as I said before, to surrender. You came later, I suppose. You were not here.

    Q: My question is about the circuit; there were a few slides in the morning practice, so how would you assess the condition of the Shanghai Circuit and what are your strategies for the following sessions in terms of the weather conditions?

    MA: Talking about the strategy, can you ask this question to Horner and Toto and then you let me know? Talking about the track, yeah, it’s a fantastic track, it’s very different versus Australia and Bahrain where we competed. I think it’s great to be here because we feel that Chinese people really support Formula One and I think that in the future and I hope that in the near future they are supporting further because the infrastructure here is great.

    Q: And Bob, your strategy going forward for the rest of the sessions?

    BF: If you could control the wind, that would be the strategy! I think that it’s a wind related issue today, it’s very strong and gusting so it’s causing a few issues for the drivers but the track is fantastic and it’s a great facility. We just look forward to being able to optimise the set-ups.

    FT: There’s not much to add. Yeah, it’s a fantastic infrastructure here, it’s a really nice racetrack, we always like to come here. Unfortunately the weather is not as beautiful as it could be because it’s a little bit cold and the wind is blowing a lot which has a big impact on the behaviour and the balance of the car and the strategy is to do as many laps as possible because our drivers need to learn the track and they will do some long runs today in the afternoon and then we will see.

    MA: I would like to say something concerning Bahrain. I would like to thank our doctor, our team doctor, the medical staff of the FIA and also the authorities in Bahrain, they immediately granted to us the best doctors in Bahrain to do the surgery and they were assisting us 24 hours (a day) literally, so thanks to all of them.

  • Hamilton edges out Raikkonen to set the pace again: Chinese GP Free Practice

    Hamilton edges out Raikkonen to set the pace again: Chinese GP Free Practice

    Lewis Hamilton in action in the second Free Practice session of the Chinese GP on Friday. He was fastest in both the sessions. Photo: FIA

    Shanghai, April 13: Lewis Hamilton continued to set the pace in practice ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix, but after enjoying a comfortable gap to rivals in first practice, the second session saw the Mercedes driver pressured as he outpaced Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen by just seven thousandths of a second.

    In the morning session at the Shanghai International Circuit, Hamilton went more than three tenths of a second quicker than second-placed Räikkönen, but in the afternoon session, the Ferrari driver looked much more purposeful.

    Half an hour into FP2, Hamilton bolted on a set of Pirelli’s ultrasoft tyres for the first time this weekend and set a benchmark of 1:33.482. Räikkönen held fire until later in the session but when he made the switch to a qualifying run he posted a time of 1:33.489 to split Mercedes’ drivers, as he had done in the morning. Valtteri Bottas thus finished in third place, just 0.026s behind his fellow Finn.

    After a low-key opening session in which he finished more than eight tenths of a second off the pace, Sebastian Vettel had a more productive afternoon, finishing fourth. The German’s lap of 1:33.590 meant that the top four drivers were covered les just over a tenth of a second.

    Behind Mercedes and Ferrari, Max Verstappen took fifth place for Red Bull Racing, with the Dutchman ending the session 0.341s behind Hamilton. While Verstappen enjoyed a smooth outing it was trickier for team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.

    The Australian was unhappy with his the throttle map of his car and also complained of a ‘long’ brake pedal during the session. He finished the 90 minutes in ninth place, a second off Hamilton’s pace.

    Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg took sixth place, almost half a second off Ricciardo’s best lap. The German edged Haas’ Kevin Magnussen by 0.145s, with the second Renault of Carlos Sainz ending up eighth ahead of Ricciardo.

    McLaren’s Fernando Alonso finished in tenth place, but there was trouble for the Spaniard’s team-mate. The Belgian’s session was stopped 15 minutes from the chequered when he was released from the pit lane with a loose wheel and he had to pull over at the side of the track. He ended up 14th on the time sheet, behind Sergio Perez of Force India, Pierre Gasly of Toro Rosso and the second Force India of Esteban Ocon.

    2018 Chinese Grand Prix – Free Practice 2 
    1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 26 1:33.482
    2 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 26 1:33.489 0.007
    3 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 27 1:33.515 0.033
    4 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 27 1:33.590 0.108
    5 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 26 1:33.823 0.341
    6 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 30 1:34.313 0.831
    7 Kevin Magnussen Haas 26 1:34.458 0.976
    8 Carlos Sainz Jr. Renault 28 1:34.473 0.991
    9 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 26 1:34.557 1.075
    10 Fernando Alonso McLaren 23 1:34.632 1.150
    11 Sergio Perez Force India 30 1:34.792 1.310
    12 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 33 1:34.849 1.367
    13 Esteban Ocon Force India 30 1:34.874 1.392
    14 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 22 1:35.163 1.681
    15 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso 37 1:35.333 1.851
    16 Sergey Sirotkin Williams 31 1:35.340 1.858
    17 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 29 1:35.624 2.142
    18 Charles Leclerc Sauber 26 1:35.916 2.434
    19 Romain Grosjean Haas 26 1:36.471 2.989
    20 Lance Stroll Williams Mercedes 19 1:37.147 3.665.

     

  • FIA Press Conference: We are going in the right direction, says Pierre Gasly of Toro Rosso

    FIA Press Conference: We are going in the right direction, says Pierre Gasly of Toro Rosso

    Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso), Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) and Marcus Ericsson (Sauber) at the FIA Press Conference. Photo: FIA

    Shanghai, 13 April, 2018: A fourth place finish in Bahrain last weekend has put Pierre Gasly and his Toro Rosso team in good heart going into the Chinese Grand Prix here this weekend.

    Speaking at the FIA Press Conference here, Gasly opined that his team was heading in the right direction and was hopeful of strong results this season.

    Excerpts from the FIA Press Conference:

    Q: Pierre, if we could start with you please. Let’s start by reflecting on your sensational result in Bahrain last weekend. How do you reflect on what happened there, and what kind of reaction have you had around the world?

    Pierre GASLY: I must say it’s been amazing. It’s a big investment for a long time since I’m a kid. It’s a lot of work, a lot of preparation and, of course, it’s my best result in Formula One. But just to see that all the work I’m doing at the moment is paying off and actually we are going in the right direction, so of course, I’m really happy about it. And secondly, for the team, it’s only our second race with Honda and already we can see that we are actually going in the right direction, communication-wise everything is going well and the car is competitive. So, this was really amazing, and also the support I got afterward, after the weekend, I’m just super-impressed. A lot of articles, a lot of TVs, and media writing as well. It was something impressive but really nice, a lot of support from the people as well. So, it’s been great.

    Q: You say the car is competitive. Do you think the performance will translate to a track like this one?

    PG: I’ll tell you tomorrow! I really hope so. I think definitely we understood much more about our car potential, car setup, about the tyres but still, we need confirmation, as you say, and I think this weekend will be a good opportunity to see if… definitely to judge our baseline and see if the potential is the same on other tracks. Definitely we need to be quite careful. Bahrain has been so good for us and I don’t know if it’s going to be similar on other tracks. So yeah, hopefully, it’s going to be the same but we’ll find out tomorrow.

    Q: And are you coming into this weekend feeling very confident?

    PG: Yeah, definitely, we feel more confident than we were, for example, in Melbourne or for Bahrain. This is going to be my first time in Shanghai, so it’s also going to be a new track for me. We’ll probably take a bit more time to adapt myself but definitely we are a bit more confident but still we need to be careful – because we have no guarantees about the performance – we know it’s really tight in the midfield. In Bahrain, the car was just fantastic in terms of balance, in terms of grip – but we know that if we don’t get everything right, suddenly if you lose two or three tenths you can be at the back of the midfield and it changes your weekend completely. So, we need to be quite careful and just make sure we do the right things.

    Q: Marcus, you’re another man celebrating a tremendous race in Bahrain. How do you look back on last weekend’s events?

    Marcus ERICSSON: Yes, like you say it was a great race for us, great to be in the points and also a great reward to everyone in the team. It’s been a lot of things happening over the winter. We’re coming from two very difficult years, where we’ve been always at the back as a team, and then this year we’re coming into the year with Alfa Romeo coming on as a main sponsor, and partner to the team and it’s like a new chapter for Sauber. It’s been a lot of work put in to make a step forwards and to move up the grid. And to be already at the second race of the year in the points, it’s, I think, a great result, a great team result and a great boost for everyone. So yeah, it was very nice. And also for myself personally, I was super happy to be back in the points. It’s been a long time. So, yeah, overall it was very positive.

    Q: Tell us a little more about that. It’s been 50 races since you were last in the points. How much of a relief was it?

    ME: Of course, it was big relief. I think I’ve had four times P11 since then. So, I was close a lot of times, and had some great races but it’s very difficult when you’re in the worst car on the grid. Some races I had a perfect race – and finished P14 or something like that. It’s frustrating, but, yeah, of course we’re all here to try to score points. So to be back in the points last weekend was a great relief.

    Q: You say last year’s car was the worst on the grid. How good is this one?

    ME: I think we have a very solid baseline to work from. Like Pierre said, the midfield is very, very close and I feel that we are very much in that midfield – but probably in the lower part of that midfield at the moment. But also like Toro Rosso showed last weekend, if you make a step you can really move quickly up or down in that midfield group. So, first of all I’m just very happy that we part of that group on pure speed. Now we need to work even harder to try to improve that position – but I know everyone does, both here on track and also in the factory and we have a lot of things planned for the season. We need to keep working hard, keep pushing hard and then we should be able to fight every weekend.

    Q: Max, coming to you now. As much as the other guys had a good weekend in Bahrain, it was a very frustrating one for you and Red Bull Racing; I think it was the team’s first double retirement since Korea in 2010. Can we start by talking about the car? You were very bullish about it in winter testing but now that we’re a couple of races in, just how competitive is it?

    Max VERSTAPPEN: The car is very quick, I think especially in the race. I think we know in qualifying we are losing out a bit, just on pure performance, on top speed. But as soon as that all calms down a bit in the race, yeah, I was very confident, for example, before we went into the race to still move up a lot of positions because I think the car was definitely capable of just driving back to the podium. So yeah, I’m just looking forward to getting started again here, because we have a good package, and there are a lot of good things coming. So, yeah, ready to go.

    Q: You made a very good start on Sunday and then there was the incident with Lewis Hamilton. Just one week on how do you reflect on what happened with Hamilton? Have you seen it on TV?

    MV: I was in the car. So I felt it, I saw it! That’s racing. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. You can say whatever you like about the incident. I think I had a fair shot at it. It was nothing crazy, nothing risky. But yeah, unfortunately, this time it didn’t work out. Looking back, for example, in Mexico last year it did work out. This time we gave each maybe not enough space, but that’s racing as well at the end of the day. Like I said, sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad.

    Have you spoken to Lewis since the incident?

    MV: No.

    Q: So looking ahead to this weekend, how important is it for you to get into the points and might we see a more conservative approach this weekend?

    MV: It’s always important to score points and that’s always the target, but we are here to finish on the podium or win races – that’s why we’re here. That’s what I will try to do again this weekend. So, for me, there won’t be a change.

    Questions from the Floor:

    Q: Max, did you hear what Lewis had to say after the race? Do you think you will have a chat with him this weekend? And do you think that you will address your driving style going forward?

    MV: No. I might have a talk with him. It depends if it’s really necessary. But why should I change something? I don’t think I did anything wrong in terms of my approach. I was just trying to overtake a car. I think it was a fair chance. I went for it. For example, last year in Mexico it could have gone wrong as well – maybe for me, maybe for another car. As you could see in Mexico it did. It’s racing; it’s very simple. I don’t understand why everybody is so on top of the topic. Those things happen in racing, you know.

    Q:  Max, reflecting on what happened last week in Bahrain and thinking back to last year here. You also started at P16 and finished third. Remember the first lap? That was fantastic. Is that also for an inspiration? You talk about Mexico but over here you even did a better than that, taking over your opponents.

    MV: Yeah, it was. That race was starting on wet tyres, so it’s always easier to get past people if you have a good feeling and a good car. So yeah, always in the dry it’s a bit more tricky. Sometimes you have those first laps where everything works out perfectly.

    Q: Pierre, your result in Bahrain was Honda’s best since it came back into Formula 1. It’s obviously made a clear step in reliability – the changes it introduced after Australia. Performance-wise, what are you expecting this weekend? The energy recovery system has always been its limiting factor and there is a long back straight here and a long start-finish straight as well.

    PG: We expect to be quite competitive, after what we learned from Bahrain. But as I say, we don’t know if we’re going to be on top of the midfield if we are going to be in the middle, we just know that to have a similar performance as Bahrain we really need to be on top of everything and just make everything perfect. The track layout, for sure, is not one of our favourites, or is not going to be as easy, with the long back straight. But still you need to have a really strong car in the middle part of the track, so I think we can still expect to be competitive. But to have a clear picture, we have done only two races. We were pretty slow in Melbourne. We were very competitive in Bahrain, even faster than what we expected, so it’s still difficult for us to know for us exactly where is the performance of the car. I think we are going to be in the fight for the midfield, but hopefully on top of it.

    Q: Gasly, we heard after the race in Bahrain that you said that we are in the fight now and it seems that it was a reply to what Fernando said the week before. So I would like to know your comment on that.

    PG: It was simple, it was just a little joke, that’s it. I think we need to give credit back to Honda. In the end, they have had a tough three years with McLaren and to finish P4 in the second race with them was just amazing, so it was a way to give them credit, because they are working really hard and yeah, I think they need credit for the hard work they are doing. But don’t get me wrong, I must say I had pretty tough messages after that, after the race, by some Spanish people who are actually quite crazy. I have huge respect for Fernando so I’m just making it clear. Don’t get me wrong. Fernando for sure is one of the best drivers of all time in Formula One, and one of the drivers I looked up to when I was young, one of my idols actually. No, I have huge respect for him, so it was nothing related, just a high comment for Honda because I think they deserved the credit.

    Q: Ericsson, you talked before about a new chapter with Alfa Romeo. I would like to know exactly how the situation is now, if you can compare it to last year? So what does it feel to be the first driver to collect points with the Alfa brand on the car?

    ME: Like I said, for the team, it’s like a new chapter this year. A lot of things have been changing over the winter, especially, obviously, with Alfa Romeo coming on board, a lot of new people coming in to the team. A lot of things changing, completely different resources. It’s been a big change and you can feel it inside the team. You can feel the motivation is very high, people are believing again. It’s a big motivation to move up the grid, whereas it’s been more about the team surviving the last few years, so it’s not so much been pushing for performance, it’s been more pushing for trying to survive every week, every race. Having that mindset, it’s then difficult to get the results whereas now we go into the season to push, to make results and to move up the grid. It’s just a completely different mindset. For me, that’s been very nice to see. So far it’s been very good, but we still have a long way to go and we need to keep working hard but it’s been very positive.

    On the second part, to score points, being the first one in this new chapter with Alfa, I think it’s something that makes me proud. First of all I’m proud to represent Alfa Romeo in Formula One again, I think it’s a very legendary brand. It’s very special to represent them in Formula One again and of course to score points with them.

    Q: How much of a step forward is this year’s Ferrari power unit compared to the year-old one you were using in 2017?

    ME: It’s very big, not only in power but in everything: driveability, energy management and all those things. It’s a very very big step. It’s nice not to have that handicap like we had last year because it was a very big disadvantage last year.

    Q: Max, if the way you were driving you believe was fine, why do you think Lewis was moved to have a go at you?

    MV: Why? Because it’s quite easy and simple to blame the younger driver. That’s the only way I can see it. Like I said, these things happen. There’s no reason for me to change anything.

    Q: Max, if you would make a list of your favourite tracks, where would Shanghai be in that list?

    MV: Somewhere!

    Q: Top five or lower?

    MV: Yeah, it’s good actually, yeah, especially for racing, I think it’s a good track, so it’s definitely on that list.

    Q: Max, in Bahrain, several things went wrong with you and the car of Ricciardo. Did the team already analyse the whole matter and could you give me some information on that?

    MV: Yeah, from my side, we put a new wheel on the car, a new floor, because that was destroyed. No, I think it was mainly more from Daniel’s car of course and in the race I think we had the problem quite similar to me last year in Canada and I think in testing this year as well. So it’s definitely something to look into but what can you do about it? It’s something that Renault needs to sort out. They are of course working really hard on that. They will again try their very best to provide us with the best possible equipment here. I’m actually not too worried about it and at the end of the day, if it happens it happens. You can’t prevent it.

    Q:  Very quick question to Max: did you have to change the gearbox for this race or not?

    MV: Why? I retired anyway so I can do those kinds of things.

  • Vettel takes a thrilling victory ahead of Bottas, Hamilton: Bahrain night race

    Vettel takes a thrilling victory ahead of Bottas, Hamilton: Bahrain night race

    Sakhir,

    Vettel wins Bahrain GP on Sunday. An FIA image

    April 8: Sebastian Vettel took a thrilling 49th career victory on his 200th race start, nursing fading tyres to the chequered flag to hold off a determined charge by Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas. Lewis Hamilton took third place after starting ninth as Red Bull Racing saw both cars exit the race early on.

    At the start, Vettel held his advantage from pole, but behind him Bottas made a better start than Räikkönen and stole second through Turn 1. Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo was briefly passed by Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly but the Australian quickly retook the position.

    It all then began to unravel for Red Bull. Ricciardo slowed as he approached the end of the first lap with an electrical failure and pulled over at the side of the track to retire.

    Further back, in midfield, Max Verstappen was charging forward from his 15th place starting position but as he began the second he tangled with Hamilton, with the Dutchman sustaining a punctured rear left tyre as he collided with Hamilton’s front wing in Turn 2.

    Verstappen eventually made it back to the pit lane and after taking on a new set of supersofts rejoined in 19th place. It was a brief bit of action, though, and on lap three he pulled over and stopped his RB14, the damage from the collision with Hamilton preventing him from continuing.

    By lap 10 Vettel had carved out a three-second lead over Bottas, with Räikkönen a further three seconds back. Behind them, Hamilton had staged a remarkable fight back from ninth place at the start, and from his bruising battle with Verstappen, and was now up to fourth ahead of Gasly and Magnussen.

    Vettel pitted from the lead on lap 18, taking on a set of soft tyres, with Hamilton 10.2 seconds behind the Ferrari driver and in fourth place. Räikkönen followed his team-mate a lap later, rejoining 2.5s behind Vettel.

    Bottas now led from Hamilton, but on lap 20 Mercedes covered the Ferrari stops and brought the Finn into pit lane. He also emerged on medium tyres, splitting the Ferraris as he had through the first stint.

    Hamilton, who had started on used soft tyres and had not made a pit stop, was now in the lead, five seconds clear of Vettel, with Bottas third ahead of Räikkönen, Gasly and Magnussen.

    Hamilton was soon caught by Vettel on fresh tyres, and Mercedes quickly pitted the Briton. He took on medium tyres, targeting a one-stop race, with Vettel set to make a second stop. Hamilton rejoined in fourth, some 25 seconds adrift of Vettel, with Bottas second and Räikkönen third.

    Ferrari then pitted Räikkönen for a second stop on lap 35 but there was trouble for the Finn as the rear left wheel failed to come loose. There was confusion and when the Finn was released he collided with one of his crew, who had to be taken to the medical centre for checks. Räikkönen was told to stop in pit lane and the Finn quickly climbed out of the car and exited the race.

    That boosted Hamilton to third and by lap 45 he was 16.7s behind Vetted. Ahead, Vettel’s problem was Bottas, who was secure in second, some seven seconds behind Vettel and setting good times on his medium tyres. The proximity was forcing Vettel to push to the end on his soft tyres and Bottas was given the message to close the German down.

    With nine laps remaining Bottas was 5.4 behind the German and lapping half a second quicker than the Ferrari man. Behind the Hamilton was told to “keep his head down” and wait for Vettel’s tyres to fall away.

    On lap 52 of the 57 Bottas had carved a further two seconds out of the gap to the leader and was told to “just push to the end” as Vettel began to struggle on his degrading soft tyres.

    The German wouldn’t be denied, however. Bottas attacked with a lap remaining but Vettel held firm and though he was shadowed to the flag by the Mercedes driver in a tense finish, he crossed the line to score his 49th career win just over half a second clear of Bottas and 6.5s clear of third-placed Hamilton.

    Drive of the day though, should have perhaps gone to Pierre Gasly. In just his seventh grand prix the Frenchman handed the new Toro Rosso-Honda partnership 12 valuable points with a superb, pacey and precise driver to fourth place.

    Behind him Magnussen opened Haas’ 2018 account with fifth place ahead of Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg and McLaren’s Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne. Marcus Ericsson delivered a positive result for Sauber with ninth place and two points and the final point on offer was taken by Force India’s Esteban Ocon.

    2018 Bahrain Grand Prix – Race
    1 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari Ferrari –
    2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes Mercedes 0.699
    3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Mercedes 6.512
    4 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso Honda 1’02.234
    5 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 1’15.046
    6 Nico Hulkenberg Renault Renault 1’39.024
    7 Fernando Alonso McLaren Renault 1 lap
    8 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren Renault 1 lap
    9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber Ferrari 1 lap
    10 Esteban Ocon Force India Mercedes 1 lap
    11 Carlos Sainz Jr. Renault Renault 1 lap
    12 Sergio Perez Force India Mercedes 1 lap
    13 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso Honda 1 lap
    14 Charles Leclerc Sauber Ferrari 1 lap
    15 Romain Grosjean Haas Ferrari 1 lap
    16 Lance Stroll Williams Mercedes 1 lap
    17 Sergey Sirotkin Williams Mercedes 1 lap
    Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari Ferrari DNF
    Max Verstappen Red Bull TAG DNF
    Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull TAG DNF

  • The car is excellent, so looking forward to the race: Sebastian Vettel at FIA press meet

    The car is excellent, so looking forward to the race: Sebastian Vettel at FIA press meet

    Sakhir (Bahrain), April 7: After taking a brilliant pole, Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) attended the mandatory FIA Press Conference along with second-placed teammate Kimi Raikkonen and Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) who took P3. Hamilton will not be defended his last-years win from the first three rows, as a grid penalty will see him line up on P9.

    TRACK INTERVIEWS (conducted by Johnny Herbert)

    Q: Let’s talk to this man, who is on pole position. Nice smiley face. You must be a happy boy?

    Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, let me breathe! It was quite intense. After the first run in Q3, I was very happy and then tossed it away in the last corner. No, really happy that I got the second run and I got it clean and I knew in the last corner I just knew I had to stay away from that kerb. Then obviously you’re looking around trying to see where the others are. Very happy. The car was excellent all weekend so far, so looking forward to tomorrow.

    Q: We’ve to talk about the car, because these guys, your mechanics, have done a brilliant job for you. But when we look at her, she just seemed to do everything you needed to do day and that seemed to be the comfort factor that you had?

    SV: Yeah, you know best. If the car is responding to what you want it to do it’s a pleasure. Otherwise, it’s a fight. Australia was more of a fight. I think we worked on the balance. I think we looked into it a lot and I think we improved it as well yesterday and today – even though it’s not easy because we do the practice session when the sun is up and qualifying and the race when the sun is down. But yeah, the car is responding, so very pleased.

    Q: Good to see that smile on your face. And Kimi… that was a battle and a half. How are you feeling now? A little bit of disappointment I guess? But that was a good performance for you this weekend?

    Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: For sure, not ideal. Far from ideal in the last run, with the traffic, but what can you do?

    Q: Yeah, what can you do? But again, everything seems to have started strong for you this season. It was unfortunate for you in Australia but coming here you look more at home than I think we have seen you for a long time. There are millions of people around the world who support you big time and this is maybe the start of something coming good for you.

    KR: Well, we’ll see. It’s one Saturday. Tomorrow is the main thing and tomorrow is the time when we get the points or we don’t get the points, so obviously see what we can do then.

    Q: Valtteri, happy with that performance today? You beat your team-mate, which is great. I know you had pole position last year, but these two guys in red, they were strong today.

    Valtteri BOTTAS: Yeah, it felt OK, the laps were OK and getting better towards the end. In Q3, when you need to put everything together, we got it more or less. I think these guys with the red car they are just a bit too quick. We can’t be happy with this, so we are looking forward to tomorrow.

    Q: But tomorrow is something you can focus on, a totally different scenario because race pace looks a bit better than qualifying?

    VB: Yeah, I think it’s going to be a close race, even with Red Bull and with Lewis and Max coming from behind we’ll see. It should be interesting.

    Q: Well done. Seb, you’re going to be starting right at the front, no one in front of you. You’re going to be feeling pretty good once those lights go out.

    SV: Feeling good now, tomorrow’s a different story. It’s a long, long race and we’ve seen that it’s not easy to make the tyres last so… The car is quick – that usually helps! Let’s see when the lights out, but for now I’m very chuffed and for the team as well. We had some issues this morning but we overcame those, so, yeah, looking forward to tomorrow.

    Press Conference: Q: Seb, your 51st career pole position in Formula One. It didn’t look that likely after FP3. Was it as surprising to you, the way the weekend has panned out?

    SV: I think it’s surprising for us to be, after Australia, that competitive. So, obviously, we, I think, have a good base. The car is working; in Australia, I think we struggled with the feel for the car. Here it’s been better, so we improved a little bit, working the car, you know, the beginning of the season, it’s always difficult because you don’t know yet the car that well. It’s getting better, so obviously,

    Sebastian Vettel flanked by Kimi Raikkonen (left) and Valtteri Bottas, P3, after taking the Bahrain pole on Saturday. An FIA image

    today was quite nice and the car came alive. I didn’t have much session this afternoon, so it was a bit tricky to know what to expect but I felt quite good right from the start and knew that I could make progress throughout the session. Q3, that’s when I wanted it to peak, and I think I peaked in the first run, just before the last corner. I wanted a bit too much. So, I knew I had a bit in me and yeah, basically, it was a bit copy/paste the final lap I had, but the last corner I managed to stay away from the kerbs, so yeah, very happy with both laps in the end and happy obviously with the result, with the car, the way the car was handling and responding, so, yeah. Chuffed.

    Q: Kimi, coming to you, you’ve looked quick all weekend here, and it looked like you were one of the favourites for pole position today. Where do you think that pole just got away from you today, compared to Seb?

    KR: Somewhere around the lap. Far from ideal but with the traffic on the last run. I thought there is a lot we can improve but obviously, it was such a messy thing in the end, I was passing people and doing this and that, so it’s disappointing because it’s been good most of the weekend. Everything. You always want one more but we’ll see tomorrow.

    Q: Valtteri, coming to you. The gap between Mercedes and Ferrari at times looked even bigger this weekend than it is in the final result. Does that give you encouragement for tomorrow’s race?

    VB: Well yeah, of course. First of all, it’s disappointing not to be in the first row. Ferrari was quicker today – but yeah, for sure we made some good progress during the weekend, we tried some things which didn’t work, that’s why the gap was sometimes bigger. So, I think we have the right setup in the car for the race. So, it’s difficult to estimate really, with the race pace. I think it’s still a long race tomorrow so anything can happen. We’ll definitely go for it and hopefully Lewis can also come back to get some good points, and hopefully we can put pressure on these guys.

    QUESTIONS by reporters in bold:

    Q: Seb, do have an idea why you feel the car more here: is it the track characteristics, the updates you’ve got on the car, was it set-up that you made changes?

    SV: Well, we mostly tried to work on the set-up, understanding the car so we tried different things obviously. Across the weekend, you don’t have that much time so in Australia, the first race in Australia, it’s a tricky track, it’s improving a lot throughout the weekend, it’s very bumpy so it’s difficult to change too much in drawing conclusions. I think after the weekend, after the race distance, especially when you have so many laps, I think we had a very good understanding and feel and obviously we’ve been talking about it and looking into it and I think overall I’ve been happier this weekend with how the car has been responding, how the front end was responding so yeah, overall, I think you also see it in the results but I think the good news is that we are a lot closer in all the conditions, if you look at all the sessions across with everyone so I think that’s the only difference. For the rest it’s the same car as in Australia.

    Q: Kimi, P2 in qualifying in Australia and now again.  How difficult is it to start against your teammate compared to Lewis in Australia?

    KR: I don’t think it’s any different, it’s another car. We’re never next to each other at the start because it’s staggered but it’s no different, we’re basically in the same position, just a different way round with the start. Makes no difference.

    Q: Valtteri, in Australia Mercedes was very fast and here on a more normal circuit we expected you to be even faster but we saw exactly the opposite. What is going on with your car? Is it tyre management again like last year?

    VB: I don’t know what’s going on. I agree that we were not having the pace this weekend that we’ve been expecting coming here but we also didn’t have anything new since Melbourne. It’s a very different circuit, very different kind of tarmac, different temperatures, everything so for sure we still needs to understand completely why. For sure we are struggling a little bit with some overheating issues with the tyres. Obviously less so in the evening sessions but still, we have work to do. It’s like we’ve been saying all through the beginning of the season that we are not miles away. Today, Ferrari, this weekend so far has been the quicker car so that’s where we are. We were better in Australia, we need to understand why we were not quickest today but for sure we still have tomorrow to see how the pace is.

    Q: Sebastian, this pole position, is it only up to the better balance of the car or do you have a party mode working as well as the Mercedes one this time?

    SV: No, I think we answered that already in Australia. As I said, I was happier with the balance of the car so obviously, there’s a lot of factors. It’s how comfortable you are in the car, whether the car’s responding or not to what you like it to do. The track, Valtteri has mentioned, the surface, the temperatures, so there are a lot of things but I think we are very very happy that we build another very strong car and we are able to put it on the front row on our own, beating everybody today, so I think that’s a great result and deserves some credit for the team, the effort that everyone is putting in so I think that’s the best thing about today but the race is tomorrow so even if it’s a good day, the main day is coming tomorrow.

    Q: Kimi, you seem a lot more comfortable in the car at the start of this season compared to last year. Do you feel happier in the car and what’s different for you to access that higher level?

    KR: Every car is different, it’s a new car obviously and it’s been OK. Obviously, there are things we need to improve and we can improve but it’s reasonably fine. Like I said, it’s a new car, there are certain designs that have been done but it’s either good or not and there’s not one specific thing that is suddenly better for me than other years.

    Q: Looking at the new halo system, how is it functioning with the three of you and what would hold the key for success tomorrow?

    VB: It doesn’t feel so new any more, the halo. I think we’re used to it and I think it’s all good. I actually missed the second question, what was it?

    Q: What will be the key tomorrow?

    VB: Be quick. I think here tyre management is going to be really important but consistent things, whoever’s having the less drop-off with the tyres is going to be high in the end.

    SV: Just the first time in the weekend you get in the car it’s still a bit weird but as Valtteri said, you get used to it. I think it would be funny now if we take it off, it would feel a bit naked but yeah, it’s fine. I think the most difficult thing is to get in and out. And for the rest, yeah, nothing to add from Valtteri.

    Q: Key to success for you tomorrow? Is it the start against your teammate?

    KR: It’s the whole package, obviously, but I think we should have a good car. Make a good start and go from there.

    Ends

  • Vettel takes 51st career pole; Hami to start 9th after grid penalty: Bahrain GP

    Sakhir (Bahrain), April 7: Sebastian Vettel will make his 200th Grand Prix start from the front of the grid after the Ferrari driver claimed his 51st career pole at the Bahrain International Circuit ahead of team-mate Kimi Raikkonen and Mercedes Valtteri Bottas.

    Defending champion Lewis Hamilton finished in fourth place but the Mercedes driver will drop to P9 on the grid due to an unscheduled gearbox change.

    Räikkönen set the early pace in Q1, his first flying laps, on soft compound Pirelli tyres, yielding a time of 1:29.951. Ferrari team-mate Vettel slotted into P2 a tenth behind the Finn, and Valtteri Bottas took third place with a lap of 1:29.275.

    Fourth place was occupied by Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen but after a solid opening flyer, it all went wrong for the Dutchman on his next quick lap. He lost control on the exit of Turn 2 and spun off at the following corner. He went nose first into the barriers, causing major damage to the left front of his car and the red flags were quickly shown.

    When the action resumed the drivers needing improvement to secure passage to Q2 were 16th-placed Haas driver Romain Grosjean, McLaren’s Fernando Alonso in P17, followed by Williams Sergey Sirotkin, Sauber’s Charles Leclerc and the second Williams of Lance Stroll.

    Alonso was the driver to progress, though only by virtue of having set a time of 1:30.530 before Grosjean matched the lap to the thousandth of a second. The Haas driver was left to rue a mistake late in his lap. Had he not erred the Frenchman might have finished the segment closer to seventh-placed team-mate Kevin Magnussen.

    At the top of the order, the top five drivers remained in the garage for the final runs of Q1 and Räikkönen led the way with his sole flying lap of 1:28.951.

    In the first runs of Q2 Vettel got the better of this team-mate for the first time during the weekend, taking P1 with a lap of 1:28.341. Räikkönen slotted into P2 but was dropped down a spot when Hamilton took P2 a tenth off Vettel. Ricciardo found himself fourth ahead of Bottas and surprise package Pierre Gasly continued to shine for Toro Rosso with sixth place, in front of the Renault of Hulkenberg, the Haas of Magnussen, the second Renault of Sainz and tenth-placed Esteban Ocon of Force India.

    In the drop zone ahead of the final runs were Sergio Perez, who had complained of a loss of energy on his first run, while P12 man Alonso was followed by team-mate Vandoorne, Toro Rosso’s Brendon Hartley, and the unfortunate Verstappen.

    And while they shuffled their order, none made it through to Q3 in the end, with Hartley rising to 11th ahead of Perez, Alonso, Vandoorne, and Verstappen.

    Vettel made the first move in Q3 but while he took P1 with a time of 1:29.196 there was a mistake in the final corner as he went marginally wide and kicked up dust. That allowed Räikkönen to sneak past and the Finn took provisional pole by 0.095s. Hamilton slotted into third, a tenth behind the top two, with Bottas fourth ahead of Ricciardo and Gasly.

    There were no errors on Vettel’s second attempt, however, and he rose to the top of the order with a lap of 1:27.958. The German was the only man to dip below the 1m28s mark and he thus took his 51st pole with just over four-hundredths of a second ahead of Räikkönen.

    It might have been assumed that Hamilton would have a say in how the front of the grid was drawn, but in the end, it was team-mate Bottas who took P3 as Hamilton failed to find an improvement.

    With the champion set to drop to P9 on the grid due to his gearbox penalty, Ricciardo backed out of his final run, safe in the knowledge that his time was good enough for P5 in the session and P4 on the grid.

    Behind them, Gasly put in a superb lap to qualify in sixth place ahead of Magnussen, Hulkenberg, Ocon, and Sainz.

  • Raikkonen fastest in FP2 but likely to face grid penalty

    Sakhir (Bahrain), April 6: Kimi Räikkönen went quickest in second practice ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix but the Ferrari driver may be facing a grid penalty due to a possible unsafe release from the pit lane late in the session. Bahrain GP is the second round of the 21-round Formula One World Championship.

    The Finn was quickly into the action as the session got underway and set an early benchmark of 1:30.689 on soft compound Pirellis that was later passed by team-mate Sebastian Vettel and Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas.

    Räikkönen then wasted no time in getting his qualifying simulation out of the way, being the first to bolt on a set of supersoft tyres shortly before the half-hour mark.

    And after logging a time of 1:29.817 that was good enough to stand until the end of the session, the Finn then moved on to long runs. However, 15 minutes from the end of the of the session, he pitted for a change of tyres and despite frantic waving from crew members on the front right of his car Räikkönen was released back on track. Realising he had an issue the Ferrari driver quickly pulled over and stopped.

    Race control reported that the incident would be investigated following the session but if it is found to be a case of unsafe release Räikkönen the race stewards hand him a grid drop for Sunday afternoon’s race at the Bahrain International Circuit.

    In the qualifying runs Räikkönen was followed onto supersoft tyres by Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.

    The champion backed out of a first flying lap due to traffic and then at the end of scrappy effort lost further time when he encountered the slower Haas of Kevin Magnussen. Hamilton thus finished the session in fourth place, behind team-mate Bottas and more than six tenths of a second off the pace.

    It was left to Vettel to take P2 in the session, with the German profiting from a clean run that left him just 0.011s behind Räikkönen.

    The two-by-two nature of the top positions was completed by Red Bull, for whom Max Verstappen was fifth quickest. However, the Dutchman was unhappy with a qualifying run that left him almost a second off top spot.

    Verstappen finished six thousandths of a second clear of team-mate Daniel Ricciardo who had a near miss with Bottas during the session. The Australian was on a quick lap when he came across the Mercedes on a slow lap but on the racing line. Bottas was quick to point out over the radio that his team had given him no information about Ricciardo’s approach. The Red Bull driver was understandably unimpressed, however.

    Best of the rest status was taken by Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg, who finished half a second behind Ricciardo and 1.4s off the top Ferrari.

    Behind the German, Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly continued the good form he had shown in claiming seventh spot in the opening session by taking eighth place in the evening and beating the McLaren pairing of Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne who finished ninth and tenth respectively.

    2018 Bahrain Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
    1 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:29.817 32
    2 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:29.828 0.011 37
    3 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:30.380 0.563 31
    4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:30.472 0.655 32
    5 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1:30.745 0.928 32
    6 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 1:30.751 0.934 31
    7 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:31.220 1.403 34
    8 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 1:31.232 1.415 38
    9 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:31.282 1.465 29
    10 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 1:31.422 1.605 35
    11 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:31.591 1.774 33
    12 Carlos Sainz Renault 1:31.601 1.784 34
    13 Esteban Ocon Force India 1:31.809 1.992 31
    14 Sergio Perez Force India 1:31.868 2.051 34
    15 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:31.969 2.152 35
    16 Charles Leclerc Sauber 1:32.372 2.555 37
    17 Lance Stroll Williams 1:32.382 2.565 30
    18 Sergey Sirotkin Williams 1:32.474 2.657 37
    19 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:32.733 2.916 32
    20 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso 1:32.908 3.091 38.

  • We can still win podium places, says Alonso

    We can still win podium places, says Alonso

    Sakhir (Bahrain), April 5: The second round of the 21-round FIA Formula One World Championship began with the traditional Thursday press conference here with drivers Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes, Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari and Fernando Alonso of McLaren present. Former World champion Alonso, who is struggling with the pace, is on a mission this season and was just a few places down to the leaders in the first race in Australia. Alonso believes that anything can happen in a race and he is ready to fight for podium places.

    From left: Kimi Raikkonen, Fernando Alonso and Valtteri Bottas at the Thursday press conference. Photo: FIA.Q: Kimi, if we can start with you. It was third place in Australia for the opening and it could have been even better and you said you were happy with the car during the first weekend. Could you just tell us what about this car you like and does it suit you more than last year’s car? 

    Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: Obviously it’s hard to say. I think it was a pretty straightforward weekend. For sure, we could have done more things and improved always, but it’s the same: it doesn’t matter if you win or are a tenth of something; there are always things to improve or work on. Obviously, we have a very limited amount of time over the weekend to do things, with the practice, and also with the weather, it was a bit tricky. Overall, I think we were quite pleased with how things went. You want more, better positions, but I think we take that happily. As a team, we did a pretty job out of it. Not much to complain about really. We want to win races, but it’s the first race out and we managed to do decent points, so we go forward here, try to make a good practice. So far the car has been working well, even with pretty limited testing over the winter, with some illness and obviously the weather was not ideal on the first test, so I’m pretty OK with how things are running, so let’s just keep doing our normal things and improving.

    Q:     Valtteri, it was a difficult weekend for you in Australia, especially with the crash in qualifying. How much does a weekend like that play on your mind in the gap between races and how eager are you to get out on track this weekend? 

    Valtteri Bottas: Well, not so much been in my mind, because everything was kind of processed during the weekend. It was a bad weekend, that’s it. Now we still have 20 races to go and we’re here in Bahrain, so nothing really to worry about at this point. We have a competitive car. We know we still have a lot of work to do to make it better. Just a bad weekend, so looking forward to this one.

    Q:     Fernando, you said on Saturday evening in Melbourne that hopefully you’d finish higher than P7 or P6 in Australia and you finished in fifth place. So where will you finish this weekend?

    Fernando Alonso: I don’t know, I don’t have the crystal ball anymore! I think definitely the car has some potential. Over the winter we had some ups and downs in testing and then in Australia, it was the same thing – the free practice was affected by the weather and the qualifying was not smooth enough for us to show the potential. It was a good race, a lucky race with the two Haas retirements and the Virtual Safety Car. Nevertheless, I think we take this fifth place and we move on. There is still a lot to improve for us if we want to catch up to the top three teams, but I think we have the potential there and hopefully, we can unlock some performance in the next races.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: Fernando, following on from that: as you say, ups and downs and still potential to come, but are happy days here again?

    FA: Well, I think there’s still quite a reasonable gap to close with the leaders, but I think it’s up to us now. It’s up to the team to deliver the performance in the next weeks, in the next four or five or six Grands Prix. If we are able to bring the performance to the track and close that gap and, you know, being in a reasonable distance to the pole position and the podium finishes and things like that, then it’s up to us to deliver the result on the weekend. I think the next two months are crucial for our hopes in this year’s championship, but hopefully we can keep improving the car, keep putting more performance and if it’s not a world championship fight, it will hopefully be some podium positions during the year or it can be regular top six or top five positions, not only in Australia P5 because of the Virtual Safety Car and the two Haas retirements. Maybe P5 could become a normality. That’s something we need to discover and to find out and as I said before, it’s probably the first time in the last three years that it’s up to us now to deliver that result, so we will try to do our best.

    Q:     Kimi, you have eight podiums here, but the qualifying results have not been that good – only one P3. Is that the biggest difference you have between racing and qualifying in any circuit, and, if yes, where is that coming from?

    KR: I don’t look too closely what has happened in the past, you probably know better. To be honest we try to do our best. Sometimes it works; sometimes not and obviously, you start where you qualify. If it’s a good place or not that great you try to make the best out of it. To be honest some years it’s been working out well here. You can choose the tyres and do a different race and it worked out well. Could it be better if you started at the front? Who knows? Another weekend where we try to do a good job and be up there and see where we end up. It’s a bit unknown. This is a completely different circuit to the previous two where we’ve been in Barcelona and Australia – so yeah, we have to see how everything plans out and where we are, where others are – but it’s been a pretty decent place in past years.

    Q:     To Kimi and Valtteri, starting with Kimi. Kimi, you were almost seven-tenths slower in qualifying in Australia. Do you think Mercedes can also have such an advantage in qualifying here? And, in race conditions, if you believe Ferrari will be more or less in the same gap to Mercedes – or even smaller due to characteristics of the track, and considering the history of Ferrari in this track?

    KR: Who knows. You can keep guessing as long as you want, we see over the weekend where we are. I have zero interest to start guessing where we are, what’s the difference in qualifying. There are so many things that will change that and you know, we’ll do our best and see where we end up in qualifying and the race – but the most important part is the Sunday after the race where it will be finished. I am finished to be two seconds off if we win every Sunday. I don’t care. It’s pretty irrelevant on Saturday in that way. But yeah, I don’t know. That’s why we come here. To find out.

    VB:     I think pretty much the same. You can always guess but at this point, we can only guess, so yeah… I think historically Ferrari has been good here. They had good race pace in Australia. Last year they had stronger pace here than in Australia, so I think it’s going to be a threat and they’re going to be close to us. Even Red Bull. But more than that, just can’t say. We will see how the weekend develops.

    Q: Interesting day coming up tomorrow where we understand Liberty Media will be presenting their blueprint of the future of Formula One to the teams. I was just wondering, as drivers, what input you’ve had, what consultations you’ve had and where you see any changes necessary from a racing perspective to improve Formula One for the future. It’s a question to you all.

    FA: I don’t think that there is anything thing that we can probably say about that. Definitely, Liberty has been quite open to us from Day One and they’ve been asking us all of last year about opinions and different ideas that we may have. So, they were very productive conversations. So, now I think they have a plan. They will show it tomorrow to the teams and we will agree with whatever their decision is because they have all the power and they have all the knowledge of who to do things. Hopefully, they’ll bring new ideas, new things that can improve the show and that will be welcome from all of us.

    Q:     Kimi, has there been any feedback you’ve been giving to Liberty about the direction of Formula One?

    KR: No, in the end, it’s not our decision, it’s up to them. It’s their business. They make plans and obviously take decisions they feel are correct. I don’t know what they’re doing now. I know very little about it and I’m not interested in it, so we’ll see tomorrow what they say. It’s in many years’ time anyhow. I doubt I’ll be here so it doesn’t really bother me.

    Q:     Valtteri, anything to add?

    VB: Not really. I think Fernando covered well. In the end, it’s their decision and tomorrow we’ll see what they will recommend. It’s difficult to speculate more than that – but it will be interesting to see what they recommend.

    Q: Valtteri, you say it’s been processed –  what happened at the Australian Grand Prix –  but how much pressure do you feel to have a good performance here? 

    VB: I think it’s a normal race weekend, that’s my feeling at the moment, honestly. Sometimes you have bad races and then there’s always the next one and of course, you always want to perform but there is no point in gathering pressure from one mistake in qualifying. Of course, I always hope for a good weekend but yeah, I feel a normal race weekend ahead.

    Q:     Just coming back to the previous question, to all drivers, Fernando said they have the power to change Formula One. If you had the power, what would you change in the Formula One we have today?

    KR: I don’t have it, so…

    Q:     Nothing you’d change at all?

    KR: No, I don’t have the power so what’s the point of wasting… even thinking about it because I don’t understand why you… what’s the point for me, to give you a list, because, in the end, I have zero power? I can’t. You understand? We can’t, we don’t make the rules, that’s my point. What’s the point of even making a story out of it?
    FA:  Well, I think it could be a close battle, that will always be welcome but it has always been like that in F1. I remember watching the TV in the very old days… it was on television last week a race from ’90 or ’89 and apart from the first four cars, everyone was flat. We remember that era like a golden era, with big names etc and they’ve always been a big spread but I think if you see now, other series, if you watch a race of IndyCars or whatever, that unpredictable result until the last ten laps makes you excited in front of the television and now we can put (down) the qualifying order for this race right now, on Thursday and that’s a little bit sad.

    VB: Well, I think, like everyone, all the spectators, all the drivers, we would all love closer racing like Fernando said but how to do that? It’s not in my hands.

    Q:     Fernando, one of the current stated objectives this year is to return to the podium. Now based on what you’ve experienced in testing and the race, what you’ve just said etc, in order to get onto the podium you have to beat both or one or both Ferraris, one or both Mercedes, plus two Red Bulls which have got the same engine. Do you honestly believe that that’s do-able and achievable this year?

    FA: Yes. We were two places from that podium already in Australia. They were very close, the last ten laps, Ricciardo and Kimi fighting together so anything can happen in a race. I won two races in 2008 with that ING Renault. I was on the podium in 2009 with the introduction of KERS and that car that we were, I think, ninth in the World Championship or something like that, and I was on the podium so anything can happen in F1. If you are close to that position, sooner or later that opportunity will come and we will be there to take it. I think it’s very much possible this year.

    FIA press release

  • We made mistakes and did not perform to our maximum: Toto Wolff

    Bahrain, April 4: Torger Christian “Toto” Wolff, Executive Director, Mercedes, AMG Petronas Formula One team, admitted to a few mistakes made during the season-opener Rolex Australian Formula One Grand Prix in Melbourne.

    In his own words, “Toto” explains: “We suspected that the new season would be closely fought and the first race confirmed those suspicions. We made mistakes and did not perform to our maximum – and it reminded us that this is the toughest racing series in the world, where every error is punished. It hurt to leave all those points on the table, especially because we know we had the pace to win in Australia.”

    “Back at base, we did what we always do after a tough weekend. We made sure that we understand what went wrong and put a process in place to make sure that we don’t see a similar issue in the future. These painful moments are the real learning experiences. Mistakes become training,” he added.

    “We expect Bahrain to be another challenging weekend, although the challenges will be of a completely different nature. The race in the desert is tricky because the conditions change drastically between sessions. FP1 and FP3 take place in the heat of the day whereas Qualifying and the race itself take place after sunset so it’s much cooler. That makes it extremely difficult to find the right set-up with the car.

    “Bahrain is also a power-sensitive race with the long straights. We saw in Melbourne that the Ferraris, in particular, were very quick, so I expect it to be a close battle. We’ve seen some great racing in Bahrain in recent years, particularly between our drivers back in 2014, so I think we can look forward to an exciting and competitive weekend.

    Featured this Week: What Are Engine Modes? 

    Over a million working hours have gone into designing, developing and constructing our 2018 Formula One car. While the result of some of that engineering work can easily be spotted by the untrained eye – for example, the complex aerodynamic bodywork – other equally important areas are hidden from sight.

    One of the all-important elements that lie underneath the bodywork is the Power Unit (PU). In this modern, 1.6-litre V6 Turbo era, it’s much more than just an engine. The Power Unit is made up of six different elements – the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE), Turbo, MGU-K, MGU-H, Control Electronics, and Energy Store.

    These elements are combined together to deliver different Power Unit modes, which drivers and teams can utilise throughout a race weekend. Over the course of the 2018 season-opening Australian Grand Prix weekend, these proved to be a particularly hot topic and sparked plenty of debate. So, what are Power Unit modes and why are they necessary?

    PU modes are a combination of settings that adjust the performance of the ICE as well as the flow of electrical energy. The ICE performance is changed, for example, by varying the amount of fuel that is injected into the combustion chamber or by changing the timing of the ignition. For the Hybrid side of the Power Unit, the modes will alter the interaction and scheduling of the electrical energy for both deployment of the 120kW (maximum) MGU-K and recovery of both the MGU-K and MGU-H.

    The main task of PU modes is to balance performance and reliability. Formula One is all about performance, but with just three Power Units per driver in 2018 (and only two of some systems), reliability is increasingly important. This is why the drivers have reduced mileage allocations of the higher power modes.

    At Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, we use three basic modes over the course of the weekend – one for the majority of the free practice sessions, one for the majority of Qualifying and one for the majority of the race.

    All three can be altered with various sub-settings for different situations, which control whether electrical energy is being net deployed over a lap, recovered or used in a balanced manner (with energy deployment and recovery balancing each other out).

    At the start of the race, for example, performance is particularly important, so drivers will choose full deployment to either defend a good position on the grid or try and gain positions in the opening laps. But F1 is about a blend of ballsy on-track passing and tactical strategy, so the drivers will later switch to a recovery energy management mode and charge the battery – just to make sure they can have more energy available for their next attack.

    Both Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas switched their race mode to lower performance during the Australian GP when they were stuck in traffic and the turbulent air of the cars ahead, in order to cool the engines and prevent them from overheating. A Safety Car presents a similar challenge – drivers want to conserve energy and the Power Unit, so the engine mode is set to reduce the duty and cool the hardware.

    Conserving damage and the reliability of the Power Unit is also important in free practice. Pushing the engines to the limit in practice just doesn’t make sense, as they need to last seven race weekends. There is one session, however, when the Power Unit is pushed to the absolute limit and gives the drivers everything it can: Qualifying.

    In terms of engine modes, the setting for Qualifying will be the most powerful one. This mode is only required for a few laps each race weekend, and usage varies according to the competitive context – sometimes this Qualifying mode will be used throughout Qualifying, sometimes only in the final Q3 session.

    The available mileage is dictated by what is termed the “phase document”, which defines the limits to which the Power Unit may be used during each race weekend, and which is the same for the works cars and the Mercedes customer teams.

    PU modes are defined when the first set of hardware is tested in Brixworth and the mileage limit is determined by the success of the long-run programme. Some of these are circuit-specific, others are more general. Making the call on which mode to use can either be the driver’s decision or through the advice of the engineering team – who will communicate over the radio which settings to adjust and which mode to switch to.

    If you hear some technical-sounding instructions over the team radio, it might well be the Power Unit mode being changed. The drivers will then change the mode through the switches on their steering wheel.

    PU modes are particularly significant at power-sensitive circuits such as Spa-Francorchamps or Monza, which are dominated by long straights and acceleration zones. The first power-sensitive track on the 2018 F1 calendar is Round 4 in Baku.

    It will be interesting to see how the storyline around engine modes develops as the season progresses, particularly when F1 reaches those more power-sensitive venues.

    Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Release